Sunday, December 28, 2014

Selma

Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma is a powerful biographical
drama surrounding the events that led up to Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the
1965 civil rights march that resulted in the change in voting restrictions for
African Americans.

The film points up the fact that, 50 years later, the
Country is still facing the same issues, albeit without the same physical violence
exhibited then.Though, not that it’s
any less insidious.

David Oyelowo gives a brilliant performance as Dr. King;
one that will put him in the running for the major rewards.

However, while Aisha Coley casts many of the roles…Oyelowo
as King, Nigel Thatch as Malcolm X and André Holland as Andrew Young…to
perfection, there are some really odd choices with Tim Roth as Governor George
Wallace and Dylan Baker as J. Edgar Hoover.

While the script by Writer Paul Webb is sometimes ponderous
and often hovers at crossing the line from drama to documentary, Spencer
Averick’s editing always manages to pull the action back to where it should be.Plus, his handling of the victimization of the
marchers is exceptional.

And, while Cinematographer Bradford Young tends to keep
the tone a bit too dark, I’m still giving Selma a 4+ out of 5 for its overall intensity.

About Me

Brian Porzak: I am a cinephile who likes to view films with a live audience. My taste runs the gamut, including indies, studio films, foreign films and most all genres. Because I see so many films, friends often ask me what to see. So, I thought I'd blog about what is worth seeing or not. As a writer/filmmaker myself, I hope to give a more uplifting perspective than the typical critic. Filmmaking is tremendously difficult. Just because some problems might exist in a particular work does not, necessarily, destroy its enjoyability and I think that is necessary to point out to would-be viewers.
See www.Aix-en-Film.com